The California governor, Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency in five counties on Sunday due to wildfires. It was prompted by the Creek fire that started on Friday night, forcing evacuations and road closures in the Fresno area
Continue reading...Category Archives: Wildfires
California’s record-breaking heatwave sparks wildfires and raises health concerns
- Triple-digit temperatures spread over much of the state
- Heat sparks new wildfires and one hiker dies on trail
California is sweltering under a record-breaking heatwave this holiday weekend, with dangerous conditions that have sparked several new wildfires and raised widespread public health concerns.
Triple-digit temperatures have spread over much of the state, including a record-high of 125F (52C) in Death Valley on Saturday. In southern California, Malibu authorities reported that one hiker died due to heat while on a trail in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Continue reading...I saved lives as an incarcerated firefighter. To California, I was just cheap labor
The state sees us as safe enough to handle emergencies – but it refuses to provide a pathway to work after release
The wildfires burning across California have put a national spotlight on the incarcerated firefighters the state depends on to fight these blazes.
But while state leaders scramble to backfill vacant positions on the firefighting lines, it’s important to remember the backdrop that helped create the crisis in the first place. This is the result of policies that value the preservation of cheap labor over a system that benefits communities and offers incarcerated individuals a path to freedom and a fair shot at employment.
Continue reading...Wildfire breaks out near tomb of Agamemnon in Greece
Fire department said 27 firefighters were being supported by nine fire engines, two planes and a helicopter
A wildfire has broken out near the ruins of the bronze age stronghold of Mycenae in Greece, prompting the evacuation of visitors to the archaeological site.
According to local media, the fire started on Sunday near the tomb of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae who was killed during the Trojan war.
Continue reading...‘Next fire season is already upon us’: NSW to adopt all recommendations of bushfire inquiry report
Report finds climate change ‘clearly played a role’ in conditions that led up to Australia’s 2019-2020 fires, which were so extreme, traditional firefighting methods often failed
Last summer’s bushfire disaster was so unusual that traditional firefighting methods, such as hazard reduction burning, failed in some instances, an inquiry into the crisis heard.
The final report of the New South Wales bushfire inquiry, published on Tuesday, said the 2019-20 bushfire season brought fires in forested regions on a scale not seen in recorded history in Australia.
Continue reading...Wildfires around San Francisco Bay Area grow to larger than Rhode Island – live
- Wildfires death toll up to seven
- Explainer: how did the fires starts, and are they normal?
- Photo essay: the evacuees with nowhere to go
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Northern California health officials are telling residents to stay inside, to protect themselves from the poor air quality caused by the wildfire smoke. But for many, that’s not an option.
A vulnerable, essential labor force - the more than 381,000 agriculture workers in California - already disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic keeps working as others flee and take shelter.
The smoke is thick where farm workers were laboring harvesting strawberries in the Salinas area. Thank you @PocketNihilist for sending us this video documenting the hard work in difficult conditions farm workers do so we can have food on our tables. #WeFeedYou pic.twitter.com/O6r0sVcQOO
Related: ‘An impossible choice’: farmworkers pick a paycheck over health despite smoke-filled air
The three wildfires burning around the San Francisco Bay Area have grown to a total size larger than the state of Rhode Island.
Surveying the SCU Lightning Complex -- this is now the third largest wildfire in CA history. pic.twitter.com/MKhVD8u48U
Continue reading...California wildfires: helicopter rescues firefighters as blaze advances – video
Dramatic footage shows the moment a helicopter rescued two stranded firefighters from advancing wildfires in California. 'Had it not been for that helicopter, those firefighters would certainly have perished,' the Sonoma county sheriff, Mark Essick, said. Firefighters have been battling blazes that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced tens of thousands to flee across the state since 15 August
- California wildfires: weather turns as Bay Area burns and Trump declares disaster
- California wildfires: Trump declares major disaster as state braces for worsening conditions
California wildfires: Trump declares major disaster as state braces for worsening conditions
- Donald Trump unlocks federal aid with declaration
- Forecasters issued a warning for Sunday morning through Monday night
- Blazes have burned more than 900,000 acres over seven days
- Area bigger than Rhode Island burns as resources stretched
Donald Trump has issued a major disaster declaration as deteriorating weather conditions threaten to spark new wildfires in California, where firefighters have been battling some of the largest wildfires on record for the past week.
Trump’s declaration will release federal assistance for the state, with governor Gavin Newsom saying it will also help people in counties affected by the fires with crisis counselling, housing and other social services.
Continue reading...California wildfires torch area bigger than Rhode Island as resources stretched thin
High temperatures and erratic winds challenge firefighting efforts as the governor calls for backup from other states
Wildfires in California have killed at least six people and forced tens of thousands from their homes, with few signs of reprieve in sight, as firefighting resources strain under the vastness of dozens of infernos raging across the state.
More than 771,000 acres have burned so far, an area greater than the state of Rhode Island, California’s governor Gavin Newsom said at a press conference Friday.
Continue reading...California fires: massive blazes spread as state strapped for resources – live
- Wildfires have killed at least six people
- Prisons overwhelmed by Covid outbreaks and approaching fires
- Firefighters stretched thin as blazes grow rapidly
- Opinion: The climate crisis has already arrived. Just look to California’s abnormal wildfires
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Here’s a look at some website headlines – and links to local reporting – from around California…
San Francisco Chronicle: CZU August Lightning Complex fires force 64,600 to evacuate San Mateo, Santa Cruz counties
Sticking with the Associated Press, it has spoken to some residents affected by the fires:
Smoke and ash billowing from the fires have fouled the air throughout California’s scenic central coast and in San Francisco. The fires have destroyed at least 175 buildings, including homes, and threatened tens of thousands more.
Tim and Anne Roberts had gone to the beach with their two children on Monday, in order to avoid the smoke at their home in Boulder Creek in Santa Cruz county. They packed a change of clothes, their children’s school supplies and their passports, just in case.
The good news for Brookdale resident Larissa Eisenstein was that her five chickens, Kelly and the Nuggets, had been safely relocated into a stranger’s yard in a neighboring community.
The chicken evacuation came a day after Eisenstein, a Silicon Valley tech worker, was forced to leave them behind during an overnight evacuation. She fled with her cats Mochi and Mini, driving from one hotel to the next only to find they were full before landing in a safe place for some rest.
Continue reading...California fires: hundreds of blazes burn amid scorching heatwave – as it happened
- Newsom: state is currently battling 367 known fires
- Thousands evacuate as ‘siege’ of flames overwhelms state
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We are wrapping up the liveblog for the day. Thanks for staying with us.
Santa Cruz county is asking that all visitors and tourists occupying hotels, motels and vacation rentals leave the county immediately to free up space for evacuees.
The #CZULightningComplex fire has grown to 40,000 acres, officials say, with at least 20 structures damaged and 0 percent containment; @CAL_FIRE says there's "potential significant growth over the next 48 hours" https://t.co/1hzaWhE7bf pic.twitter.com/4jnuQpSirk
Santa Cruz County is asking all visitors to leave the county to free up shelter space. #CZULightningComplex pic.twitter.com/9vOm4MMyj3
The current map of evacuated areas, this is expected to expand. Please be prepared.#CZUAugustLightningComplex pic.twitter.com/GpVeArkz5J
Continue reading...California wildfires: thousands evacuate as ‘siege’ of flames overwhelms state
- Hundreds of fires, stoked by a searing heatwave, prompt governor to declare a state of emergency
- Latest California fire updates
Hundreds of fires are raging across California, forcing tens of thousands of residents – who were already facing blackouts and the coronavirus pandemic – to flee their homes. The flames, sparked by lightning and stoked by a searing heatwave and ferocious winds, have been moving quickly, overwhelming the state’s firefighters and first responders.
“It’s kind of an overwhelming fire siege,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
Continue reading...California wildfires live: thousands forced to evacuate as blazes rage across state
- Cluster of wildfires in Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties cover an estimated 46,225 acres
- Lake fire in southern California has burned more than 21,000 acres
Three wild fires and more than 10,000 acres are currently burning out of control around the San Francisco Bay area, prompting officials to issue evacuation orders for residents living near the blazes.
Gov. Newsom said today that he has asked three states — Arizona, Nevada and Texas — to provide hundreds of fire engines to help contain the flames.
Evacuation Order expanded to include all areas west of County Road 306 west to Mendocino County line. Full length of County from Tehama County line south to Colusa County line. #GlennCounty #AugustComplex pic.twitter.com/AlAizoPraM
#LNULightningComplex - New evacuation orders for the Green Valley area in Solano Co, everything west of Suisun Valley Rd & north of Rockville Rd, to the county line. #Fairfield #Vacaville #HennesseyFire pic.twitter.com/eT9Krot7mD
Wildfires in northern California have made the air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area the worst in the world.
As fires blaze through eight of the nine counties surrounding San Francisco, smoke is drifting across the region and light ash falls from the sky.
It’s raining ash in California, forcing us to wear a different kind of mask than we wear for the pandemic when we go buy the generator we need for either rolling blackouts or preemptive outages so we can work from home if we haven’t been evacuated or our house hasn't burned down
What it’s like to live in California right now.
My car was JUST washed and all of this is ash from the wildfires surround us. ITS LITERALLY RAINING ASHES!!!! pic.twitter.com/XB4iLaG9l5
Smoke and Ash in San Jose CA from fires in California pic.twitter.com/Vxqa2leEdL
Continue reading...California wildfire spawns ‘firenado’ as tornado warning issued amid heatwave
Large wildfires can heat air so much that huge clouds develop and in strong winds these can rotate and sometimes produce a tornado
A wildfire in northern California spawned at least one fire tornado – or “firenado” – on Saturday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a tornado warning as the state continues to endure a heatwave and wildfires.
“Extremely dangerous fire behavior noted on the #LoyaltonFire! Rotating columns and potential for fire whirls,” NWS Reno tweeted on Saturday.
Continue reading...Lake fire: huge blaze north of Los Angeles forces evacuations
- Firefighters battle to contain blaze before temperatures rise
- Fire in Angeles national forest produces vast plume of smoke
A huge wildfire has prompted evacuations north of Los Angeles, with firefighters hoping to rein in the blaze before temperatures spike later on Thursday.
The Lake fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon in dense forest land in the Lake Hughes area of the Angeles national forest, some 60 miles (97km) north of downtown Los Angeles.
Continue reading...California: thousands under evacuation order as fire rages east of Los Angeles
- ‘Dangerously hot conditions’ hamper firefighters
- Blaze only 5% contained but no injuries reported
Thousands of people in California were under evacuation order after a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles exploded in size and forced crews to battle flames in triple-digit heat.
The Apple fire in Riverside county consumed more than 31 sq miles (about 80 sq km) of dry brush and timber, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection.
Continue reading...California’s ‘Apple Fire’ – the wildfire in pictures
The fire in Cherry Valley, north-west of Palm Springs, prompted authorities to issue new evacuation orders as crews fought the blaze
Continue reading...Apple wildfire forces thousands to evacuate in southern California – video
Thousands of residents in southern California were forced to evacuate as a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles exploded in size. The 'Apple fire' burned 60sq km of dry brush and timber after two blazes converged on Friday. Firefighters continue to battle the fire, with dangerously hot weather conditions forecast to carry on
Continue reading...Apple wildfire: thousands ordered to evacuate as southern California blaze grows
Fire explodes in size as crews battle the flames in triple-digit heat in mountains east of Los Angeles
Thousands of people were under evacuation orders Sunday after a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles exploded in size as crews battled the flames in triple-digit heat.
The fire, dubbed the Apple Fire by local firefighters, was straddling Riverside and San Bernardino counties and consumed more than 23sq miles (about 60sq km) of dry brush and timber, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Continue reading...Huge forest fire kills 18 firefighters and one guide in China
Footage shows large flames shooting into sky from mountains above city of Xichang
Eighteen firefighters and one forestry guide have died while fighting a huge forest fire in south-western China.
State television footage showed flames shooting into the sky from the mountains above the city of Xichang in Sichuan province, turning the sky orange. Heavy clouds of smoke billowed above the buildings and roads of the city, which has a population of about 700,000.
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